Işılay Saygın (April 4, 1947 – July 26, 2019) was a Turkish architect, politician, and four-time government minister between 1995 and 1999. İşilay Saygın was born to Osman Nuri Saygın and his wife Fatma in

Buca Buca (, ) is a district of İzmir Province, Turkey. It is one of the main urban districts of İzmir Metropolitan Municipality. History Buca was one of the preferred settlement areas of İzmir's community of Levantines. The great mansions they bu ...

district of İzmir Province, western Turkey. She graduated from Faculty of Architecture at

Ege University Ege University or Aegean University ( tr, Ege Üniversitesi) is a public research university in Bornova, İzmir. It was founded in 1955 with the faculties of Medicine and Agriculture. It is the first university to start courses in İzmir and ...

. Saygın entered politics in 1973 from the Justice Party (AP) and served two terms as district mayor of her hometown. Her post ended in 1980 after the

military coup A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

that year. She then worked as an architect until she returned to politics in 1983 joining the

Nationalist Democracy Party Nationalist Democracy Party ( tr, Milliyetçi Demokrasi Partisi, MDP) was a former political party in Turkey. Background About one year after the coup of 1980, all political parties were closed by the military regime, or the so-called National ...

(MDP). With the 1983 election, Saygın entered the

parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

in its 17th term as a deputy of

İzmir İzmir ( , ; ), also spelled Izmir, is a metropolitan city in the western extremity of Anatolia, capital of the province of the same name. It is the third most populous city in Turkey, after Istanbul and Ankara and the second largest urban aggl ...

. In the following elections of

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, ...

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phi ...

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The Great Hanshin earthquake str ...

and

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shoot ...

, she kept her seat in the parliament. After the dissolution of the MDP in 1986, she joined the Motherland Party (ANAP) in 1987 In 1995, she moved to the

True Path Party The True Path Party ( tr, Doğru Yol Partisi, DYP) was a centre-right political party in Turkey, active from 1983 to 2007. For most of its history, the party's central figure was Süleyman Demirel, a former Prime Minister of Turkey who previously ...

(DYP). In 1997, she returned to her former party ANAP. She was politically active until 2003. Saygın was appointed four times as a government minister. She became the

Minister of State Minister of State is a title borne by politicians in certain countries governed under a parliamentary system. In some countries a Minister of State is a Junior Minister of government, who is assigned to assist a specific Cabinet Minister. I ...

responsible for "Women and Family Affairs" in the 51st government led by female

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

Tansu Çiller Tansu Çiller (; born 24 May 1946) is a Turkish academic, economist and politician who served as the 22nd Prime Minister of Turkey from 1993 to 1996. She is Turkey's first and only female prime minister to date. As the leader of the True Path ...

succeeding Aysel Baykal, and served between October 5 and October 30, 1995. She continued in her post in the 52nd government led by Çiller until February 23, 1996, replaced by

İmren Aykut İmren Aykut (born 1940) is a Turkish female economist, trade unionist, politician and former government minister. Early years Aykut was born to Evket Şadi and his wife Emine in Kozan, Adana, Turkey in 1940. She finished the primary education ...

. The same day, she was appointed Minister of Environment succeeding Ahmet Hamdi Üçpınarlar. On March 6, 1996,

Mustafa Taşar Mustafa ( ar, مصطفى , Muṣṭafā) is one of the names of Prophet Muhammad, and the name means "chosen, selected, appointed, preferred", used as an Arabic given name and surname. Mustafa is a common name in the Muslim world. Given name Mou ...

took over her office. Prime minister

Mesut Yılmaz Ahmet Mesut Yılmaz () (6 November 1947 – 30 October 2020) was a Turkish politician. He was the leader of the Motherland Party ( tr, Anavatan Partisi, ANAP) from 1991 to 2002, and served three times as Prime Minister of Turkey. His first two p ...

appointed her the same day

Minister of Tourism The Minister of Tourism is the head of the governmental department that specializes in tourism, recreation and/or culture. The position exists in many different countries under several names: *Ministry of Tourism and Environment (Albania) * Minist ...

in the 53rd government. She held the office until June 28, 1996. Saygın took again office of the

on the same day serving in the 54th government led by

Necmettin Erbakan Necmettin Erbakan (29 October 1926 – 27 February 2011) was a Turkish politician, engineer, and academic who was the Prime Minister of Turkey from 1996 to 1997. He was pressured by the military to step down as prime minister and was later ban ...

and the 55th government led Mesut Yılmaz until January 11, 1999. In January 1998, as she was holding the office of Minister of State in charge of "Women and Family Affairs", Saygın was criticized when she defended the practice of

virginity test A virginity test is the practice and process of determining whether a girl or woman is a virgin; i.e., to determine that she has never engaged in, or been subjected to, sexual intercourse. The test typically involves a check for the presence of an ...

ing in an interview she gave to a daily. Feminists demanded her resignation.

References

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